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The Cult of the Lightweight Fighter: Culture and Technology in the U.S. Air Force, 1964-1991

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The Cult of the Lightweight Fighter: Culture and Technology in the U.S. Air Force, 1964-1991 The Cult of the Lightweight Fighter: Culture and Technology in the U.S. Air Force, 1964-1991 by Michael Wayne Hankins B.A., University of North Texas, 2007 M.S., University North Texas, 2013 AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2018 Abstract In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, military aviation technology grew expensive and politically divisive, and this is not without precedent. In the 1960s and 1970s, the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Falcon represented a controversial shift both in the cost of development and in tactical doctrine for the United States Air Force (USAF), yet the motivating factors that influenced their design are not fully understood. Most of the literature either has focused on a teleological exploration of technical evolution or has held to a “genius inventor” paradigm, lionizing individual engineers and planners. Other works have focused on these aircraft as factors that changed the Air Force's tactical approach to warfighting or have simply evaluated their combat performance. Although these approaches are valuable, they do not account for the effect that institutional culture and historical memory had on the F-15 and F-16 programs. This dissertation argues that the culture of the fighter pilot community was based on a constructed memory of World War I fighter combat, idealizing a heroic, romanticized image of “Knights of the Air.” This fighter pilot community attempted to influence the F-15 and F-16 programs to conform to their vision of an idealized past. Furthermore, a smaller group of these pilots, calling themselves the “Fighter Mafia” (and later the “Reformers”) radicalized these ideas, rejecting the Eagle and Falcon as not representative of their ideal vision. Through public and political activism, this group affected the discourse of military technology from the mid-1970s to the present. Drawing on David Nye’s work on the connections between technology and cultural historical narratives and identity, this work will demonstrate that culture and institutional historical memory can be important factors in driving the development of military technology. The Cult of the Lightweight Fighter: Culture and Technology in the U.S. Air Force, 1964-1991 by Michael Wayne Hankins B.A., University of North Texas, 2007 M.S., University of North Texas, 2013 A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2018 Approved by: Major Professor Dr. Donald Mrozek Copyright © Michael Hankins 2018. Abstract Military aviation technology has grown expensive and politically divisive, and this is not without precedent. In the 1960s and 1970s, the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Falcon represented a controversial shift both in development cost and in tactical doctrine for the United States Air Force (USAF), yet the motivating factors that influenced their design are not fully understood. Most of the literature has either focused on a teleological exploration of technical evolution, or has held to a “genius inventor” paradigm, lionizing individual engineers and planners. Other works have focused on these aircraft as factors that changed the Air Force's tactical approach to warfighting, or have simply evaluated their combat performance. Although these approaches are valuable, they do not account for the affect that institutional culture and historical memory had on the F-15 and F-16 programs. This dissertation argues that the culture of the fighter pilot community was based on a constructed memory of World War I fighter combat, idealizing a heroic, romanticized image of “Knights of the Air.” This fighter pilot community attempted to influence the F-15 and F-16 programs to conform to their vision of an idealized past. Furthermore, a smaller group of these pilots, calling themselves the “Fighter Mafia”(and later“The Reformers”) radicalized these ideas, rejecting the Eagle and Falcon as not representative of their ideal vision. Through public and political activism, this group affected the discourse of military technology from the mid-1970s to the present. Drawing on David Nye’s work on the connections between technology and cultural historical narratives and identity, this paper will demonstrate that culture and institutional historical memory can be important factors in driving the development of military technology. Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ ix Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1 - Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 Defining the Knights of the Air .................................................................................................. 9 The Power of Belief .................................................................................................................. 21 Chapter 2 - The Fighter Pilot with a Thousand Faces .................................................................. 24 We Could Be Heroes ................................................................................................................ 26 Hypermasculinity ...................................................................................................................... 31 Lone Wolves ............................................................................................................................. 42 Wonderful Toys ........................................................................................................................ 49 Foolish Boys ............................................................................................................................. 51 The Pilot’s Journey ................................................................................................................... 55 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 62 Chapter 3 - “I Can Conquer the World”: Knights of The Air in The Second World War ........... 63 Victory Through Air Power ...................................................................................................... 64 I’m The Best at What I Do ........................................................................................................ 66 Wearing Your Plane Like a Glove ............................................................................................ 88 A Problem with Authority ........................................................................................................ 91 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 95 Chapter 4 - “I Was Snoopy in My Dreams”: Fighter Pilots in Korea and Vietnam ..................... 96 SAC as Superior ........................................................................................................................ 97 Dogfighting Reborn: Korea .................................................................................................... 100 Redefining Air Superiority ..................................................................................................... 108 The Phantom Menace ............................................................................................................. 112 Mig-Killers in Vietnam ........................................................................................................... 115 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 124 Chapter 5 - “The White Scarf Stuff”: Origins of the F-15 Eagle ................................................ 126 Defining Air Superiority ......................................................................................................... 126 Genghis John: Archetype of The Knight of the Air ................................................................ 134 vi Energy Maneuverability ......................................................................................................... 145 Penetrating the System ............................................................................................................ 158 Voices in The Wilderness ....................................................................................................... 163 No True Fighter ...................................................................................................................... 175 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 182 Chapter 6 - The Eagle Has Landed: Finishing the F-15 ............................................................. 184 The New Gospel ..................................................................................................................... 184 Under Pressure ........................................................................................................................ 194 Requirement Creep ................................................................................................................
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